General bread 'n butter keyboard synth?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Agent47
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Agent47

Dismember
Hi, I need some advice for someone also who's starting their own home studio.

As she's just starting out she has absolutely no gear :0 - but she intends to use synth for instruments for song backings. She also needs a keyboard for MIDI control. Rather than getting a controller + modules or softsynths, I think it might be a good starting point (economically) to get a keyboard synth - she can add softsynths at a later date if she wants.

I'm looking for a decent bread 'n butter keyboard synth that has the usual GM sounds (piano, str, bass, leads etc.) that has, say, 61 keys.

Any ideas? Can you still get the X5D - I remember that was a decent one I used a few years back. Any advice would be handy.

Cheers.
 
Yamaha CS1x would fit that bill and they are pretty cheap used
 
I know you said that you weren't sure about the soft synth route yet, BUT... I use an edirol pcr-m80 (61 key) controller (new costs $229) and Hypersonic 2 ($299). I don't think you will find a keyboard with that type of quality of sounds and controlls for less than the $530 that this setup would cost. Since it sounds like she's going to be using a computer for home studio work, then I think this might be a very good option.
 
Cool. Thanks, I'll look the Yammy up. Bit of a softspot for Yammy gear, being an SW1000 owner...

Cawhite - your post makes total sense of course. But I'm worried that if she has a latency problem with her new computer, then she'll be up poop creek. I'm not sure how good her PC will be, and I'd hate it to be a nightmare for her on her first home studio experience. Hence a keyboard with instruments on it - should run more smoothly than the potential problems with softsynths. Plus she may take the synth to other studios and stuff. Then after a while she can get into softsynths.
 
Dunno what budget you're after, but there are some new entry-level workstations around $1k US now. Being a Roland guy myself, the new Juno-G looks promising.

Alesis, Yamaha, and Korg all have decent romplers with 5-oct keyboards, a smattering of instrument types to get started with, and a modest sequencer. The Juno even lets you do some audio tracks in the sequencer, so you can use it for sketching out vocals.

If budget is an issue, then I'd look into used workstations from the last couple generations. No audio recording or sampling (generally), but they'll still have a bunch of sampled sounds and a sequencer of some sort.

Good luck!
 
I always recommend the E-MU PK-6 its a great keyboard wit nice bangin sounds and u can get cards to go in them for even more sounds.They are really cheap and when i say cheap i mean price wise. They are 61 keys but they have the feel of a weighted keyboard. I have a pic of it in my sig and i have included a link so u can check it out.

http://www.vintagesynth.com/emu/pk6.shtml
 
I haD the pk6 it was cool,but in the situation explained..I would get a fantomx
Its a sturdy synth,and if you have computer issues..you can still compose music..
 
Thanks guys, I'll look em up. Keyboard synths aren't a thing I usually deal with, being home-based, so advice is most welcome.

SuperJX - My colleague wants to record her own vocals, mainly as a guide for real singers, so ideally she wants a PC so she can do a bit of multitracking and editing, plus emailing MP3s and the like, so she needs a computer really. Otherwise, yes a workstation would be ideal and more cost effective.
 
pk6 reset

do you know how to reset to factory settings? I just got a used pk-6 and the bass keys (left first 12) wont play. I assume this is because of split keyboard
 
mdbeaner said:
do you know how to reset to factory settings? I just got a used pk-6 and the bass keys (left first 12) wont play. I assume this is because of split keyboard
Click to expand...

Oh now i see why you were sayin your 12 keys werent workin i thought maybe you were havin a malfunction or something. But this is how you reset the factory settings.

1. Hold down both Cursor buttons while powering up.
2. Select 17 Initialize User Data
3. Press Home/Enter to select
4. Press Home/Enter to confirm
5. Select 18 Reboot
6. Press Home/Enter to select
7. Press Home/Enter to confirm
 
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